Showers dampen London carnival

Children paraded through west London streets ahead of Monday's events

LONDON, England -- Hundreds of thousands of revelers were enjoying London's Notting Hill Carnival despite showers and a nearby stabbing on Sunday.

Police said a man in his 20s was taken to a north London hospital after he was stabbed, but later they said the incident occurred outside the carnival area and was unrelated to the festival.

Last year two people were murdered and several others assaulted at the annual carnival in the west London neighborhood, and police and festival organizers have stepped up security efforts to avoid a repeat this year.

Rain on Sunday helped keep crowd-control problems to a minimum as hundreds of children decked in spectacular colours got their parade under way ahead of Monday's main parade.

This year's programme includes 65 masquerade bands, 10 steel bands, 12 calypso singers, 55 sound systems and more than 300 food stalls.

Extra police efforts include an additional 80 CCTV cameras that allow the entire parade route to be covered. An addition of 1,500 officers puts this year's total at 10,000 police on duty.

One officer has been assigned to each float in the carnival, and officers have been issued with metal detectors to check for weapons.

London police getting in the spirit of Notting Hill

There will also be three two-metre-high platforms at strategic points for officers to observe the crowd.

Carnival organisers have recruited and trained 600 stewards to monitor the crowds.

Prior to Sunday's festivities, police expressed fears that the popularity of the event could lead to dangerous levels of overcrowding.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Trotter said his biggest concern was crushing in the narrow streets.

"It's a concern that people could be crushed, that's why we are pleased to see safety at the top of everyone's agenda," he told the UK Press Association.

Safety concerns have led to the cancellation of some of the carnival's star attractions this year.

The three main stages -- featuring live broadcasts by BBC Radio 1 and MTV -- have all pulled out.

It is the first time since 1980 that there will be no live stages at the carnival.

Despite the problems, organisers expect this year's event to be as big as ever.

Spokeswoman Steph Harwood said: "It has been a very difficult year for us this year with the security concerns, particularly after the two murders.

Carnival turns Notting Hill into a kaleidoscope of sound and colour

"It is a great disappointment that there will be no live stages this year. That has also resulted in a substantial loss of revenue."

The carnival has its traditions in the West Indian community that inhabited the now-fashionable district recently made famous by the film ''Notting Hill,'' starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

The carnival started in 1964 as a local affair set up by the West Indian immigrants of the area and has become a full-blooded Caribbean carnival, attracting millions of people from around the world.

In recent years, participating groups have come from Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Bulgaria, Russia, Brazil as well as from all parts of the Caribbean, Africa, Central and South America and the United Kingdom.